Belgian emergency money from the First World War

The National Bank of Belgium Museum has a large number of emergency notes from the First World War. 4,525 parts of 2,499 kinds (June 8, 2015). After the product currency, this century old choice is the second subset of the museum available online.

During the war, Belgium had to deal with the lack of funds, especially the shortage of micropayments. That is why, about 600 local governments and hundreds of charities, relief committees, and companies have emergency funds, mainly banknotes, but sometimes they also have metallic coins. Initially, the money was used to pay military expenses, insurance money, wages, suppliers and other municipal expenses. Later, it corrected the lack of small changes and purchased the most important foods and goods (eg clothing and coal). Many support committees (including national committees and social committees) also switched to this type of emergency response. Factories and companies pay wages and cash coupons. Local municipal emergency passes are used only as a means of payment for communities or specific stores. Through mutual agreement among local governments, they are now accepted elsewhere as well.

To find a war record for a specific city government you only have to go to a Belgian map and then click on the state to which it belongs first. After selecting the prefecture, select the city or town you are looking for from the drop down menu. The name of the commune / municipal government is the name effective since the merger in 1977.

For each local government, as a general outline all types of war records from cities and their constituent municipalities / villages are shown on a scale. Simply click on the selected image, you will see more detailed photos on the front and back of the memo.

For people who want to know more about the history of war, we strongly recommend using general bibliography. Finally, you can also easily access this directory using a smartphone or tablet.

Bernard Wilkin is a Belgian historian who works at the University of Sheffield and specializes in the history of aviation and propaganda during the First World War. During the First World War, he published various themes such as the French press news, aerial propaganda and aviation as a theme of the International War Law, the use of British terrorism in German propaganda. He is currently working with the British Library to promote Allied Air's air promotion to occupied civilians.

In the years before and after the Second World War, the language problem became a more powerful department in Belgian politics with the emergence of the linguistic parties of the 1950s and 1960s (Volksunie, FDF and Rassemblement Wallon). In the 1960s and 1970s, all major Belgian parties divided into Flemish and French parties. Belgium is a very unionized country and the organized labor force has a strong political influence. Approximately 53% of the private sector and civil servants are members. The Belgian labor union is not only a "bread and butter" movement in the sense of America, it also takes a position on issues such as education, public finance, defense expenses, environmental protection, women's rights and abortion. We also offer various services such as unemployment allowance management.